Property, Leasehold and Housing

The recent case of Sturgiss -v- Boddy concerned the impact of the law on commonplace flat shares where the owner does not live at the property but allows others to do so and those others are unrelated to one another. Under this arrangement it is common...

Three homeowners have lost their appeal against a decision that sections of land they bought with their homes should be classed as ‘gardens or grounds’ and so be subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) at the full rate. The issue in each case was...

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a commercial tenant had correctly exercised a break clause in its lease despite having left the premises “dysfunctional and unoccupiable”. The break clause provided that the tenant could terminate the lease if...

A landlord has won a dispute over service charges in a commercial building because the onus was on the tenant to prove they were unfair, and it had failed to do so. The case involved Criterion Buildings Ltd and Mckinsey & Co. Criterion was the landlord...

According to May 2021 statistics between 6% to 7% of private renters are estimated to be in arrears, which is around twice the proportion of an average year before the pandemic. The Government have had to step in to protect private renters. ...

Coronavirus has had a significant impact on the Civil Courts, particularly in relation to possession proceedings and evictions. The latest eviction ban imposed by the Government ended on 31 May 2021. In addition to this, the Government has amended and...

There are many circumstances where you might investigate the possibility of an injunction in a property dispute. An injunction can be your ultimate legal remedy. It is a court order which either. Requires a party to do something they are legally obliged to...

At the end of 2020, the Supreme Court passed the long-awaited judgement in Millgate Developments/Alexander Devine/Housing Solutions case. The heart of the issue was section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, and whether the public interest ground for...

There has been much recent press speculation that the government intends to introduce some significant reforms to Leasehold law. This has been prompted by indications from the government, over quite some time, that leasehold law is to be reformed in a...

Previously, landlords typically reserved the right to ban all pets in their rental properties. A recent update to the Model Tenancy Agreement from the Government removes this blanket ban. This will be welcome news to many pet owners, as currently only 7% of...